


Nothing But Flowers

by TheTiniestTortoise



Series: Tales from the Dusty Trail (Tumblr Prompt Fills & Requests) [2]
Category: Red Dead Redemption (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, horsies being cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-25 22:41:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21633121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheTiniestTortoise/pseuds/TheTiniestTortoise
Summary: Reader gets a surprise <3
Relationships: Charles Smith/Reader
Series: Tales from the Dusty Trail (Tumblr Prompt Fills & Requests) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1557991
Comments: 4
Kudos: 65





	Nothing But Flowers

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr user asked: "Hey can I get uhhh “i thought you’d like this.” With Charles x fem reader plss"

You let your mare wander down the road, following Taima with gentle and well-practiced acquiescence. Charles rides easily just in front of you, holding her reins loosely just above the saddle. There is an unmistakable set to his shoulders that you’ve noticed, however, becoming more pronounced the longer you ride.

He’s taken you out on a hunting trip. You crossed the Dakota River and rode through Strawberry yesterday, following him; always following him. You’re headed west, though you think this is the _last_ direction you should be headed. But he is sure, and you trust him.

You haven’t bagged anything yet, except a few rabbits and a wild turkey to feed you both on your travels. He’s promised elk once you reach your destination, and that is the goal you continue to move towards. You can’t help but to think the elk is just a stand-in for something else, though. A placeholder for something. You just have no idea what.

Your travel is punctuated with long stretches of companionable silence. It is the thing that initially drew the two of you to each other, after all. You’ve always had a predilection for keeping quiet, observing instead of drawing attention to yourself; and that is exactly what drew his attention to you. Charles has about as much fondness for empty chatter as he would for a bullet to the head; that is to say, absolutely none.

With so few words between you, the details of your relationship remain undefined. You spend a good deal of time together away from camp, practically the gang’s designated hunter-gatherers at this point. Charles is capable and confident in his abilities, and he is confident in you; and he has always been respectful, something that can’t be said for many other men.

You’ve been in your share of tight situations together - bushwhacked, ambushed, chased, almost been mauled by a pack of wolves one fateful night - and yet you’ve managed to keep each other safe and have each other’s backs, a solid trust that doesn’t need to be mucked up with verbal affirmations of itself. It simply is.

So it almost startles you when his deep voice breaks the comfortable silence you’ve settled into. “Would you look at that…”

You blink, eyes flicking up from where you’d been intently focusing on trying to re-wrap the strip of leather wound around your saddle horn; it’s been loosening for a while now, and you’d noticed some fifteen minutes before that it was just about ready to fall off.

What you see when you finally look up is damn near enough to knock the wind from your lungs. You’ve emerged from patchy pine forest and scrub that blocked your view to look out across a great valley, full to the brim with large, meandering patches of bright purple wolfsbane.

The afternoon sun cascades down through tumultuous cloud cover, decorating the entire length of the enormous field in golden rays that almost makes it seem like God himself is getting ready to grace you with his presence.

You feel a heavy breath leave your lungs as you pull up on the mare’s reins, bringing her to a slow stop. “My God…”

You don’t realize that Charles is watching you intently. You slide down off the saddle, almost getting your foot caught in the stirrup because you simply can’t take your eyes off the awesome sight in front of you.

You fumble for your horse’s reins and lead her to the edge of the road, stopping just where the meadow starts. A breeze kicks up, whipping your hair around your face and making the heavy purple flowers dance like waves on the ocean. You feel her tug at her lead, and when you look over she is tossing her head and pawing a hoof at the grass.

So you let her go. She brays and rears up on powerful hind legs before taking off into the meadow like a bullet fired from a smoking barrel, all sinewy muscle and pent-up energy from the slow pace you and Charles have kept since you left Strawberry. You see a herd of deer spook, heads shooting up from the tall grass before they are bounding away, startled at the horse’s raucous approach.

You can’t help but laugh breathlessly as she rears up once more, seemingly delighting in the beauty of this place just as much as you are, before she is flopping down onto her big side and rolling onto her back in the tall grass and flowers like a playful filly.

“I, uh…I know how much you enjoy flowers. Noticed the sage and lavender you keep in your tent. I thought, since it’s your birthday, you might like this…”

Your eyes widen and you turn to him, standing beside you, now, just at the edge of the meadow. His brow is furrowed, and he stares off across the expanse, arms folded across his chest. Stoic as ever. Almost like he’s nervous about what your reaction will be.

“You remembered my birthday…?”

Blinking, Charles finally glances over at you. “Of course.”

“You-you brought me all the way out here so you could show me this on my birthday?”

The corner of his mouth twitches slightly. He almost starts to look embarrassed, but he doesn’t get the chance to before you’re barreling into his chest, wrapping your arms tightly around his broad midsection. You hear him sputter out a clipped, surprised little laugh before his arms shift to encircle you, hugging you back. It is warm and comfortable in his embrace.

“Happy birthday.”

“Thank you, Charles. It’s perfect.” 


End file.
